Suspect in 100 mph chase found stuck up tree

The Journal Gazette

PHOTOS

Click on image to view.

A 100-mph chase this weekend in rural Kosciusko County ended with a suspect stuck up in a tree, police said.

Jeremy J. Neibert, 23, of Winona Lake, has been charged with resisting arrest with a vehicle, fleeing law enforcement, and criminal recklessness, according to a written statement issued by the Warsaw Police Department.

It said police were checking out a criminal mischief complaint on North Park Avenue shortly before 3:40 a.m. Saturday when a silver car peeled out of Lucerne Park with its lights off.

An officer caught up to the Chrysler 200 near Sunset Drive and pursued it to Indiana 15, where it lost control at Kosciusko County Road 350 North and then continued north at speeds in excess of 100 mph, the statement said.

At County Road 600 North, the Chrysler turned west and then hit a tree, police said. A set of shoe prints led away from the driver's door.

Officers and a Winona Lake Police Department dog tracked the prints to a wooded area southeast of the car. About 4:30 a.m., the suspect was found stuck about 8 feet up with his left knee lodged in a tree, the police statement said.

The Atwood Fire Department was called to free the driver and he was taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital for treatment and then to the county jail.

Three other occupants of the car were taken into custody at the scene and later released without charges, the police statement said. The police said Neibert involved involvement.